1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fishing rod holders, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved fishing rod holder for securing a plurality of fishing rods in a protected storage location within a camper shell or cap of a pickup truck. Many fishermen utilize pickup trucks which are provided with a camper shell or cap. Conventionally, fishermen travelling to an intended fishing spot, or to a marina or dock, lay the fishing rods in the bed of the truck. This frequently causes the fishing rods and the attached fishing lines to become entangled resulting in a time consuming and tedious operation of separating the fishing rods from one another. Additionally, this allows the fishing rod and the attached reel to bounce around on the truck bed, frequently resulting in damage to the fishing rod and reel. Fishermen who fish from boats in the ocean or in lakes often carry a large number of fishing rods, and this creates aggravated transportation and storage problems. Additional fishing gear and other equipment must be carried in the pickup truck bed, along with the fishing rods. The presence of the fishing rods on the truck bed consumes storage space needed for this additional equipment. In order to overcome these problems, the present invention provides a fishing rod holding system which enables a plurality of fishing rods to be secured to the ceiling of a pickup truck cap or camper shell.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of fishing rod holders are known in the prior art. A typical example of such a fishing rod holder is to be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,554,650, which issued to W. Waite on May 29, 1951. This patent discloses a fishing rod carrier which is secured on the exterior roof of a vehicle. Spring straps having hooks for engagement with rain gutter portions of the vehicle are utilized to retain the carrier on the roof of the vehicle. A pair of spaced supports extend in parallel relation on the roof of the vehicle and fishing rods have a handle portion mounted in one support and a tip portion secured to the other support. U.S. Pat. No. 2,721,680, which issued to P. Steckman on Oct. 25, 1955, discloses a fishing rod holder which utilizes a pair of generally parallel spaced supports which are secured by resilient U-shaped clamps which engage back portions of front and rear seats within a motor vehicle. Fishing rods are supported between these spaced supports. U.S. Pat. No. 3,291,427, which issued to E. Hutchings on Dec. 13, 1966, discloses a fishing rod holder which utilizes a pair of spaced supports adapted to be secured in parallel relation to the gunwale of a boat. U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,907, which issued to B. Robb on Jan. 10, 1984, discloses a fold down storage rack for permitting the storage of fishing rods across a ceiling which includes first and second rack supports and a pair of parallel rods pivoted to one rack support and including an end member between the rods. The second rack support is parallel to the first rack support and includes a holding bracket coupled thereto and movably engageable with the end member for holding the rack in a storage position substantially parallel with the ceiling, and disngageable to permit the storage rack to be pivoted away from the ceiling. U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,203, which issued to H. Davis on Apr. 15, 1986, discloses a fishing rod holder which utilizes two spaced supports which extend in parallel relation for holding a plurality of fishing rods. A first support is formed from metal tubing encased in a protective material to form two legs at each ends with a plurality of generally sinusoidally configured, U-shaped recesses between the legs, each recess adapted to hold the stem of respective fishing rod, and the second member formed from a substantially C-shaped portion of tubing in which one of two walls is cut to form a plurality of slots, each slot being adapted to hold the handle of a respective fishing rod.
While the above mentioned devices are suited for their intended usage, none of these devices disclose a fishing rod holder which utilizes two spaced supports for securing a plurality of fishing rods along the interior ceiling of a pickup truck cap or camper shell. Additionally, none of the aforesaid devices utilizes a generally rectangular support provided with a plurality of spaced U-shaped notches, with a pivotal clamp bar mounted between adjacent pairs of notches for securing a handle portion of a fishing rod in each notch. Inasmuch as the art is relatively crowded with respect to these various types of fishing rod holders, it can be appreciated that there is a continuing need for and interest in improvements to such fishing rod holders, and in this respect, the present invention addresses this need and interest.